Iran

387 Pages·2017·19.79 MB·English

by  coll.

P
D
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Iran
PDF ebook
Edition 7th Edition
Release Date Sep 2017
Pages 384
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4 easy-to-use How to use this book
sections
Look for these symbols to quickly identify listings:
1 4
Sights Sleeping
r 5
Beaches Eating
2 6
PLAN YOUR TRIP Activities Drinking
C 3
Courses Entertainment
Your planning tool kit
T 7
Photos & suggestions to help Tours Shopping
you create the perfect trip.
z Festivals 8 Information
& Events & Transport
All reviews are ordered in our writers’ preference,
starting with their most preferred option. Additionally:
Eating and Sleeping reviews are ordered by price
range (budget, midrange, top end) and, within these
ranges, by writer preference.
ON THE ROAD
Your complete guide
Expert reviews, easy-to-use
maps & insider tips.
These symbols and abbreviations give vital
information for each listing:
Must-visit recommendation
Sustainable or green recommendation
No payment required
% Telephone number f Ferry
UNDERSTAND h Opening hours j Tram
p Parking d Train
Get more from your trip n Nonsmoking a pt apartments
Learn about the big picture, to a Air-conditioning d double rooms
make sense of what you see. i Internet access d m dorm beds
W Wi-fi access q quad rooms
s Swimming pool r rooms
v Vegetarian selection s single rooms
E English-language menu ste suites
c Family-friendly tr triple rooms
# Pet-friendly tw twin rooms
g Bus
SURVIVAL GUIDE
Your at-a-glance reference For symbols used on maps, see the Map Legend.
Vital practical information
for a smooth trip.
©Lonely Planet Publications Pty Ltd
Iran
Tehran
p34 Northeastern Iran
p246
Western Iran
p77
Central Iran
p146
Southeastern Iran
Persian Gulf
p230
p213
THIS EDITION WRITTEN AND RESEARCHED BY
Simon Richmond, Jean-Bernard Carillet, Mark Elliott, Anthony Ham,
Jenny Walker, Steve Waters
P LAN
ON THE ROAD
YOUR TRIP
Welcome to Iran . . . . . . . . 4 TEHRAN . . . . . . . . . . 34 WESTERN IRAN . . . . . 77
Iran Map . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 Sights . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37 Bazargan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80
Activities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50 Maku & Around . . . . . . . . . 80
Iran’s Top 16 . . . . . . . . . . . .8
Tours . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53 Khoy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81
Need to Know . . . . . . . . . .16
Courses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53 Orumiyeh . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82
First Time Sleeping . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53 Maraqeh . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84
Iran . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .18
Eating . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58 Tabriz . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84
If You Like… . . . . . . . . . . . 20 Drinking & Nightlife . . . . . . 61 Kandovan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94
Month by Month . . . . . . . 22 Entertainment . . . . . . . . . . .64 Jolfa . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94
Shopping . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65 Aras River Valley . . . . . . . . . 95
Itineraries . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
Around Tehran . . . . . . . . . 72 Kaleybar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97
Visas & Planning . . . . . . .27
Alborz Ski Resorts . . . . . . . 72 Ardabil . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97
Regions at a Glance . . . . . 31 Mt Damavand . . . . . . . . . . 74 Khal Khal . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100
Rey . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75 Zanjan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100
Soltaniyeh . . . . . . . . . . . . 103
TUUL & BRUNO MORANDI / GETTY IMAGES © MOHAMMAD REZA DOMIRI GANJI / 500PX ©
OLJEITU MAUSOLEUM,
SOLTANIYEH P103
JAM
ES STRACHAN / GETTY IM
AGES ©
PERSIAN RUG WEAVING MASJED-E NASIR-AL-MOLK,
P316 SHIRAZ P198
Contents
UNDERSTAND
Takab . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103 Bavanat . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 211 Iran
Rasht . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105 Firuz Abad . . . . . . . . . . . . 212 Today . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 274
Around Rasht . . . . . . . . . . 109 Kazerun & Bishapur . . . . . 212 History . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 276
Ramsar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111
People . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 293
Kelardasht . . . . . . . . . . . . 112 PERSIAN GULF . . . 213
Daily Life . . . . . . . . . . . .295
Qazvin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113 Kish Island . . . . . . . . . . . . 214
Alamut Valley . . . . . . . . . . 118 Bandar-e Lengeh . . . . . . . 219 Iranian Cuisine . . . . . . .302
Sanandaj . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 122 Bandar Abbas . . . . . . . . . 219 Faith in Iran . . . . . . . . . . 306
Howraman . . . . . . . . . . . . 125 Qeshm Island . . . . . . . . . . 222 Architecture . . . . . . . . . 310
Paveh . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 126 Hormoz Island . . . . . . . . . 227
Carpets, Arts & Crafts . .315
Kermanshah . . . . . . . . . . . 127
Bisotun . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 130 Literature,
SOUTHEASTERN
Music & Cinema . . . . . .320
Hamadan . . . . . . . . . . . . . 131 IRAN . . . . . . . . . . . . 230
Bijar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 136 Natural Environments . .326
Meymand . . . . . . . . . . . . . 231
Marivan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 137
Kerman . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 232
Dorud . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 138
Around Kerman . . . . . . . . 239
The Dorud–Andimeshk SURVIVAL
The Kaluts (Lut Desert) . . 240
Railway . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 138 GUIDE
Rayen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 242
Andimeshk . . . . . . . . . . . . 139
Birjand . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .243
Shush . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 139
Qa’en . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 244 Safe Travel . . . . . . . . . . .332
Shushtar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 141
Ahvaz . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 144 Directory A–Z . . . . . . . .336
NORTHEASTERN
Khorramabad . . . . . . . . . . 144 Transport . . . . . . . . . . . . 350
IRAN . . . . . . . . . . . . 246
Health . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 359
CENTRAL IRAN . . . 146 Sari . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 247
Gorgan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 247 Language . . . . . . . . . . . . 362
Qom . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 147
Semnan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 252 Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 371
Kashan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 151
Garmsar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 254
Around Kashan . . . . . . . . . 157 Map Legend . . . . . . . . . . 382
Shahrud . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 255
Esfahan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 158
Gonbad-e Kavus . . . . . . . 256
Zagros Mountains . . . . . . 176
Bajgiran . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 257
Dasht-e Kavir . . . . . . . . . . 178
Mashhad . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 257
Yazd . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 182 SPECIAL
Around Mashhad . . . . . . . 268
Around Yazd . . . . . . . . . . . 193 FEATURES
Kalat . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 270
Shiraz . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 195 Visas &
Persepolis . . . . . . . . . . . . . 207 Bojnurd . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 270 Planning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .27
Esfarayen . . . . . . . . . . . . . 271
Naqsh-e Rostam Daily Life . . . . . . . . . . . . 295
& Naqsh-e Rajab . . . . . . . 210 Sabzevar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 272
Faith in Iran . . . . . . . . . . 306
Pasargadae . . . . . . . . . . . . 210
Safe Travel . . . . . . . . . . . 332
©Lonely Planet Publications Pty Ltd
4
Welcome to
Iran
Welcome to what could be the friendliest
country on earth. Iran is the jewel in
Islam’s crown, combining glorious
architecture with a warm-hearted
welcome.
In the Footsteps of Empire Modern & Sophisticated
Echoes of ancient civilisations resonate This is your chance to get to grips with Iran’s
down through the ages in Iran. Some of modern history, too, particularly in Tehran.
history’s biggest names - Cyrus and Darius, Enter part of the former US embassy, now
Alexander the Great, Genghis Khan – all called the US Den of Espionage; gaze up
left their mark here and the cities they at Tehran’s beautiful Azadi Tower, where
conquered or over which they ruled are hundreds of thousands of people gathered
among the finest in a region rich with such to mark the 1979 revolution and, in 2009,
storied ruins. Walking around the awesome to protest against the regime the revolution
and beautiful ancient capital at Persepolis, delivered; and visit the haunting Iran Holy
experiencing the remote power of Susa Defense Museum to learn all about the Iran
(Shush), and taking in the wonderfully Iraq war that so traumatised the country.
immense Elamite ziggurat at Choqa Zanbil Tehran is also where you can take Iran’s con-
will carry you all the way back to the glory temporary pulse at creative contemporary
days of Ancient Persia. art galleries and liberal cafe spaces.
The Beauty of Islam Redefining Hospitality
Iran is a treasure house for some of the Across Iran, a nation made up of numerous
most beautiful Islamic architecture on the ethnic groups and influenced over thou-
planet. The sublime, turquoise-tiled domes sands of years by Greek, Arab, Turkic and
and minarets of Esfahan’s Naqsh-e Jahan Mongol occupiers, you’ll find the people
(Imam) Square gets so many appreciative are endlessly welcoming. Offers to sit down
gasps of wonder, and rightly so, but there for tea will be an everyday occurrence, and
are utterly magnificent rivals elsewhere, if you spend any time at all with Iranians,
in Yazd and Shiraz among others. And it’s you’ll often find yourself invited to share a
not just the mosques – the palaces (espe- meal in someone’s home. Say yes whenever
cially in Tehran), gardens (everywhere, but you can, and through it experience first-
Kashan really shines) and artfully con- hand, Iranian culture, ancient, sophisti-
ceived bridges and other public buildings cated and warm. It’s these experiences that
all lend grace and beauty to cities across will live longest in the memory.
the country
5
RAFI NOURINIA / 500PX ©
Why I Love Iran
By Anthony Ham, Writer
What’s not to love? The landscapes here are wonderful, from high mountains to deep
deserts where the soulful presence of the Asiatic cheetah still roams. There’s the archi-
tecture and the magic of the bazaars. There’s the utterly civilised appeal of taking tea in a
teahouse overlooking the river in Esfahan or with nomads out in the Zagros Mountains. Or
wandering the mud-brick alleyways of Yazd then venturing to a Zoroastrian fire temple on
the cusp of the desert. Yes, I love all of these things. But Iran’s greatest gift is its people.
For more about our writers, see p384
Above: Masjed-e Shah mosque, Esfahan (p159)
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©Lonely Planet Publications Pty Ltd
8
Iran’s
Top 16